Local woman celebrates 100 years

Mildred Maxey Moran (sitting) celebrated her 100th birthday last Saturday in a party at the Sunnyside Community Center. Behind her are her daughter Wanda Schilperoort and son Jim Maxey. &nbsp

One hundred years after being born in Campbell, Ark., Mildred Maxey Moran celebrated her birthday surrounded by friends and family at the Sunnyside Community Center last Saturday afternoon.

Four generations of her descendants showed up at the 100th birthday party, which was also attended by Moran's numerous friends from her 67 years in Sunnyside. People came from as far away as Arkansas to celebrate her centennial.

Moran was the fifth of six children. She had three children of her own, two still alive. Both were at the big party.

Her son, Jim Maxey, is the youngest and said the family moved to Sunnyside in 1945, just after the war. They came to Sunnyside at the suggestion of Moran's brother, who said there was work to be found locally. Moran's husband was a carpenter who was eventually hired at Hanford.

Her daughter Wanda married Frank Schilperoort and talked about how her mother had worked all her life, first setting linotype at a printer and then working in canneries and out in the fields after moving to the valley.

"She's a tough woman," said Wanda Schilperoort. "She had to carry water for cooking back when she lived in Arkansas. She's always been a hard worker."

Schilperoort described her mother as a great cook and a quilter, as well. Moran never had a driver's license.